Welcome, Summer!

Every morning lately I put on some clothes and then stare at my shoes trying to figure out what to put on - the truth is, I have not bought shoes in a LONG long time. This is actually a good thing, I used to have a problem with shoe purchases, and it was a huge effort "cleansing" unnecessary shoes out of my life.

Fast forward a couple years, I now realize there is a huge need of some classic summer additions, esp to go with my new clothes (found here and here).

Here are my new purchases, from dsw.com:





On a side note - I will be out of town for work until Friday, so no posts/blog reading until then. Have a great rest of the week, readers!

Have I mentioned...?

That I love the blog "A Life's Design"? (link on sidebar). This morning I found this picture on said blog (from Architecture's Digest):



Soo many things to love about this kitchen - the cabinet hardware (black hinges!), the chandelier (why can't I find something similar for over our dining table?), the blue subway tiles (are they glass? that would be even cooler), and finally the metal stools.

I love the contrast of the brushed aluminum stools and the Early American style chandelier. There is something about mixing modern with country that I love!

While I hunt to find a similar chandelier - I found the stools for only $99 here.

Old Habits Die Hard

My dad and brother were in town this past weekend. Brett just graduated undergrad from Texas and is off to Houston for med school, so he and my dad did a "Graduation Man Vacation" before he heads off to sleepless nights of studying and clinicals. My dad and my brother headed out in my dad's van from Texas to California and stopped to enjoy many baseball games, mountain biking and golfing along the way.


Brett, Dad and Blake (who did not go on the Man's Trip due to finals) at our wedding.

We had a great weekend packed full of fun Southern California types of things - Friday night pizza and beer at a local joint, Saturday Angels game (GREAT game), Sunday bike riding and then off to Temecula).

Speaking of bike riding, my dad is an avid biker. He's told us again and again how lucky we are to have amazing trails behind our house, and I mentioned to him I wanted to buy a bike. He then set out on a mission to find me the best bike for the least amount of money... and we settled on this Schwinn Hybrid bike.


It's the perfect bike for me - I'm able to use it as a street bike but also a mountain bike (hence the hybrid name). My dad bought it for me for my birthday.

THANKS DAD!

We took it on a ride on Sunday and I had a blast - you forget how much fun it is until you pick it up again - I felt like a kid again.